Bonaparte, Louis

b. 2 September 1778, Ajaccio

d. 25 July 1846, Livorno

Served his brother, Napoleon, as his ADC, and took part in the operations to capture Oneglia and Saorgio in April 1794. He was also at the action at Dego later that year. During the 1796 campaign he fulfilled the same functions, and distinguished himself at the crossing of the Po and the battle of Lonato. He was sent to Paris with dispatches for the government, and was promoted captain. He then returned to Italy, and was at Arcole and Rivoli. After the signing of the Peace of Campo Formio in October 1797, he was once again sent to Paris to inform the government. He took part in the expedition to Egypt, from where he was sent yet again to carry despatches to the French government, but only arrived a short time before Napoleon himself returned to carry out his plan of taking control of France. After Marengo, Napoleon put forward the idea that Louis should marry Hortense de Beauharnais, Josephine's daughter from her first marriage, but Louis managed to avoid this step for some time. Eventually, he had to give in, and the couple married on 4 January 1802. They disliked each other intensely, and spent very little time together, although they had two children. In 1806, Napoleon made Louis King of Holland, which the latter tried to rule as independently as possible, often opposing the will of his brother. In the end, the pressure was too great, and Louis abdicated in 1810. For the rest of the period of the Empire he lived largely in retirement, eventually settling in Italy, where he spent the rest of his life. Source: Balteau, J. and others. Dictionnaire de biographie française, 1933-, vol. 6, pp. 919-21.